The Gift
by Mageling
Summary: Cloud and Tifa's plane goes down, the two disappear,and Yuffie makes it her mission to find out. With Vincent and the strange girl called Aerifa, they spend seventeen long years searching for their lost friends.A new threat surfaces, they become trappd wi


Disclaimer: I don't own FF7 or any related characters. However, all original characters are mine, as is the idea. On with the show!  
  
Prologue:  
  
It was cold for a spring day. Great clouds had roled in over the sun.  
  
"I'm sorry I'm late," she called, running to meet those of her friends who were left. "What have you guys found?"   
  
"Lifestream," Red XII growled, his tail swishing back and forth in an aggitated manner. Yuffie gave a sigh, and she began to rock back and forth on the balls of her feet.  
  
"No sign of them, then?"   
  
"Cid's down there," the canine creature reported, blocking her view of the lifestream. "It's nothing young eyes shoud see."  
  
"I'm not a kid, Red XIII," she replied indignantly. Before he could react, Yuffie actived her Materia. She floated above him, and drifted down the hill to where Cid and Vincent were. As she got closer, she spotted it: Lady Luck's remains, the plane in pieces, the hull smashed, bobbing along in the Lifestream.  
  
"No," she whispered. She floated higher. "Cloud! Tifaaaa!" There was no answer, nothing but her voice echoing. There was no movement, no life.  
  
"They're gone," Vincent whispered. "Nothing could have survive a wreck like that. Not even them."  
  
The ground began to shake. The two men cried out and slipped. Yuffie, quite undistrubed since she floated, watched as the Lifestream's surface began to shake. Something floated up to the top, a bundle of cloth. It took Yuffie a moment to realize what it was. A baby blanket. Despite the unease that had settled into her chest, Yuffie swam through the air toward the floudering bundle. She saw, to her horror, a tiny face within the blankets. Yuffie gently scooped the baby out, and flew back to shore just as her levitation winked out.  
  
Yuffie unwrapped the child, checking for signs of life. Nothing. Yet, she was still warm. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance. Yuffie began to breath gently into the baby's mouth, patting her back.  
  
"You ain't doin' the kid no favour," Cid said gruffly. "Even if you can save her, she'll be poisoned by all that Mako energy. Just let her die."  
  
"No," Yuffie cried between puffs. "I'll not watch a child die!" The baby coughed, and some of the green liquid spewed from her mouth. She let out a scream, drawing in a gulp of air. Yuffie sagged in relief. She held the naked, screaming baby up against her chest, rocking her gently as she had seen a new mother do.  
  
Vincent pulled off his cloak.  
  
"Wrap her in this," he said. "It wouldn't do for her to catch a cold." The baby's wails calmed and she snuggled into the surprisingly smooth fabric. Her eyes opened up. Yuffie gasped out loud. The baby girl had green eyes, Mako green eyes that glowed eerily.   
  
"Come on," Cid growled. "I'll take you to the nearest med centre. Get the kid looked at."  
  
"Thanks Cid." Yuffie kissed the child's head. She felt a strong bond with the little girl. "Let's call her Aerifa," she added suddenly. "After. . ."   
  
"Aeries and Tifa?" Vincent guessed. "Fitting, I suppose. I wonder if they'd approve. . . ." Yuffie ignored his last comment. She wasn't sure if he was being sincere or sarcastic.  
  
"Come on, my Aerifa," Yuffie cooed. "I'll bring you home, and you can be safe. You'll like your Grandpa."  
  
"Yuffie," Red XIII cried, "you aren't seriously thinking of keeping that kid?"  
  
"So what if I am?" she snapped back. She clutched the child tighter to her.   
  
"You're a kid."  
  
"Don't be ridiculous, Red XIII. I may be a kid, but I'll take good care of her, and that's all that counts." She stormed up the hill. Men, she fumed silently, they just don't understand! She did not care what they thought. Aeries was gone, and now so were Tifa and Cloud. At least fate had been kind enough to send her this little girl, something to sooth the pain, even if just a little. Vinecent was suddenly beside her, his arm on her shoulder.   
  
"You have courage, Yuffie," he told her. "Not many would take on a baby so young."  
  
"I have to, Vincent," she replied softly. "No one else will."  
  
AN: Well, what do you guys think? Please review, cause there'll be no second chapter if I don't get at least 5 reviews. 


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